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Snowden Document Shows Canada Set Up Spy Posts For NSA

Posted by Unknown on from the not-you-guys-too dept.

An anonymous reader writes with news that even Canada is getting its hands dirty in the international dragnet fiasco. From the article: "The leaked NSA document being reported exclusively by CBC News reveals Canada is involved with the huge American intelligence agency in clandestine surveillance activities in 'approximately 20 high-priority countries.' ... Wesley Wark, a Canadian security and intelligence expert at the University of Ottawa, says the document makes it clear Canada can take advantage of its relatively benign image internationally to covertly amass a vast amount of information abroad. 'I think we still trade on a degree of an international brand as an innocent partner in the international sphere,' Wark said. 'There's not that much known about Canadian intelligence.'"

18 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Old News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I thought it was common knowledge for quite a long time that the canadian Communications Security Establishment set up all the american embassies with their SIGINT gear and such.

    1. Re:Old News by OptimalCynic · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yeah, I don't see why there's so much shock. "US ally assists US spy agency in spying." Wow. My flabber is truly gasted.

    2. Re:Old News by EasyTarget · · Score: 4, Interesting

      .. common knowledge for quite a long time

      If I had asserted it in public prior to the Snowdon leaks, anonymous apologists would have popped up saying: 'Where is your proof'.
      Now we have that proof the same anonymous apologists are saying it was: 'Common knowledge'.
      Hummm.

      --
      "Oops, I always forget the purpose of competition is to divide people into winners and losers." - Hobbes
    3. Re:Old News by TheP4st · · Score: 3, Funny

      Then what would you call it?

      Covert Operation Collecting Knowledge, or COCK for short? Which clearly would not be the same as spying.

      --
      "I have downloaded hundreds and hundreds of records, why would I care if somebody downloads ours?" Robin Pecknold
    4. Re:Old News by Xest · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Not just US ally, Canada is one of the five-eyes group of nations (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand). It's pretty well established that these nations security services all work together in unison on just about everything now.

      I'd wager given the status of five-eyes that New Zealand similarly uses it's benign image to spy where the US/UK can't get away with it on their behalf.

    5. Re:Old News by NatasRevol · · Score: 4, Funny

      Mr. McMohammed is the only Scottish Muslim in Afghanistan, so it shouldn't be hard to track him down.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    6. Re:Old News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      We sold it to the American's and were kept on as consultants.

    7. Re:Old News by s.petry · · Score: 3, Insightful

      While perhaps funny, it misses the point. The story here, and with Germany, and with Britain, and with Italy, etc.. is not about those countries spying. The story is about these countries colluding to oppress their own citizens by said spying. The oppression/suppression of OWS is a verifiable example, and there are numerous stories from the UK and Germany that show how law enforcement used the same type of data to squash dissent.

      Intelligence gathering on foreign countries is not a shock, and not a surprise. Nobody sane would argue that we can't monitor what happens in the world. It's what we do with that intelligence that matters, and all of the supposedly "Free" countries have failed in their responsibilities to their own citizens.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  2. Enough by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They can't be trusted. Obama's unspecified "checks and balances" aren't working. Time to start encrypting everything by default.

    --
    No sig today...
    1. Re:Enough by DarkOx · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No the problems start at the top, Senators, Presidents, powerful Congressmen, generals. The problem is the system has no way to deal with them because at those levels it basically depends on the punishing themselves and they have learned to circle the wagons when the people get riled up.

      The only option is to target their enablers, folks like clapper. If enough political pressure can be brought to bear and you give them the option to toss someone like Clapper under the bus along with a few low level admin types like snowdens coworkers who broke some rule somewhere some time they will.

      Do this often enough and they won't be able to find these facilitators who are willing to go a long with what they know to unethical, immoral, illegal or some combination there of because they will also know that when it comes to light and it will someday, it's going to be them that pays for it.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    2. Re:Enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Time to start encrypting everything by default.

      Can we please start with https://slashdot.org?

    3. Re:Enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I disagree. I think if we executed a few Senators, Congressmen and lobbyists in the public square we would see a significant change in their behavior and the laws that are passed.

      The thought of being hanged, then drawn & quartered and then having your pieces parts burned at the stake will motivate enough lawmakers to change things.

    4. Re:Enough by smpoole7 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      > PS: If you're a terrorist reading this ...

      I'm NOT defending the NSA, but remember that this type of communication requires ... communication. In other words, you have to arrange in advance that the phrase "the chair is purple" means "proceed to site B." The US Government's plan has been to

      (a) freeze the assets of the terrorists so that they're constantly strapped for cash
      (b) via drone strikes and etc., make it clear that when they DO try to meet to arrange things, they'll possibly be blown up
      (c) look at every single communication between the groups when they DO try to arrange things.

      That's their plan, anyway. But anyone with any sense at all should have known that, once all of that surveillance was in place, it would be abused. As it has been.

      Counter argument: if the government had *allowed* details of the surveillance to leak, it might deter the terrorists. Kind of like during the Cold War, the US and Soviets *wanted* each side to at least have a rough idea of their capabilities, to further discourage anyone with an itchy finger on the Big Red Button.

      But the truth is, intelligence agencies want to know everything. Absolutely everything. It's just like a dog licking his privates: if he can, he will. Likewise, if they can monitor everything you do, they will. They can't resist it.

      --
      Cogito, igitur comedam pizza.
  3. What? by Hamsterdan · · Score: 5, Funny

    * 'There's not that much known about Canadian intelligence.'*

    As A Canadian, I kinda resent that :)

    --
    I've got better things to do tonight than die.
  4. Canadian Intelligence by rikkards · · Score: 3, Funny

    There's not that much known about Canadian intelligence.

    Too easy..

    1. Re:Canadian Intelligence by cervesaebraciator · · Score: 3, Funny

      When asked about collaboration with the National Security Agency, the PM responded with a puzzled, "NS eh?"

  5. Re:Don't. by DarkOx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There isn't anything in any of these revelations many had not guessed or spotted. There were and still are tons of people who just wanted to live in denial about it. Snodens stuff is making that hard for them as they can't just dismiss the people saying it as tinfoil hat clad conspiracy nuts, with actual evidence floating about.

    --
    Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
  6. Sweden too by Flammon · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Swedes 'cooperated' too.

    http://www.thelocal.se/20131205/sweden-spied-on-russia-for-nsa-report

    It's pretty hard to say no when the guy with the biggest guns and millions of murders to back them asks you to do something.

    --
    ayottesoftware.com